Do you care?
by sabina.chaudri
Summary: Juvia was just dumped by Bora, and Gajeel spots her on his way back to Phantom Lord. The two share a small moment that will later become a pleasant memory.


Drip.

Drip.

Drop.

 _"Great. She's back."_

Heavy boots were leaving deep prints in the quickly-forming mud. Gajeel breathed out a very laboured sigh. He already saw how the rest of his unbearably long evening would go.

Or was it still day time? Up above the thick veil of clouds had covered the sky, not letting a single ray of sunlight get through. Once again, the colors of the city became washed-out and the air was filled with the smell of wet grass.

It was raining.

Again.

Always raining.

Always whenever she was back, it was raining.

Gajeel was dragging his feet not even trying to supress an eye-roll before silently beginning to curse the source of this disruption. She'd been with the guild for a couple of months now, but since she never stayed for too long before going on a mission somewhere far away, it still felt like she was a trespasser.

 _"It's been months, what the hell, can't someone teach her how to control her f*cking powers,"-_ he thought getting more annoyed now that his wet fringe was beginning to stick to his face.

Get home. Get the mud out. Shower. Wash his clothes. Dry his clothes… Ugh.

 _"This woman is giving me a headache..."_

 _"And too much unnecessary work!" –_ he screamed into the distance, not caring if anyone would hear him.

 _"Maybe if I beat her up, I can knock some sense into her…. Actually, I might just beat her up anyway,"_ – he kept pondering.

He clicked his knuckles, and started stretching his neck, now picturing what he'd do to the first person he saw back at the guild. It didn't matter who that person was, as long as they didn't make it too easy. Ah, but then again, everyone was an easy target at the guild. Who could possibly match up?

Somewhere not too far from the guild, he caught a well-known scent.

 _"She's outside?"_

There was nothing interesting in that particular direction and it didn't make for a good practice field, so why?... Gajeel wasn't one to assess things too thoroughly, so he just let his feet take him wherever they wanted to go.

In a tiny open field surrounded by trees, there was a narrow footpath that lead up to two benches, which were placed back-to-back. Juvia was sitting on one of them, looking gloomier than usually, starring at her trembling fingers.

Gajeel stopped before she could see him and watched her for a bit from behind the trees.

 _"She's doing it again,"_ – he thought at the familiar scene.

She clenched her fists, and spreading her fingers stretched her hands towards the sky. Her arms shook for a few seconds and then dropped beside her. She looked exhausted, eyes almost closed, but kept raising them again.

 _"Idiot… how could that possibly work …"_

Gajeel had seen her previous attempts at stopping the rain, but those were different. She would go deep into the woods where no one could see her. Wearing her training clothes and standing feet wide apart she'd take massive swings that moved the tree crowns. She ran and jumped and kicked and screamed, she was red, out of breath and looked like she could split the ground. It was a very amusing scene, and what was curious the most is that Gajeel had never seen her fight like that against a human or even a monster. She looked fierce and threatening, and that really made him want to challenge her.

Something he still hasn't tried to do yet.

But right now, she was slumped like a rag on the bench, weakly raising her arms like she was stretching rather than pushing. Suddenly she jerked her leg and kicked the ground beneath it.

 _"Woah... girls actually do that...,"_ – Gajeel mused never having actually seen a girl stomp her foot in frustration.

He heard her grit her teeth, make a few squeaking sounds and attempt to do something bizarre with her fingers in swatting motions.

 _"Oh c'mon, you look pathetic_ ," – he thought coming out of the trees and taking a seat on the opposite bench.

 _"Look what the sun brought out,"_ – he threw the words, not looking at her.

They were sitting back-to-back, so neither could see the other ones' face.

 _"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere far-far away now? I'm gonna rust because of you."_

Juvia stayed quiet, but Gajeel was already looking for a fight.

 _"Aren't there other people you can bother around here? Some-"_

 _"Juvia was dumped,"_ – she cut him off.

Gajeel was caught completely off guard, his mouth still hanging open. The word started bringing all kinds of associations about dating and relationships. His mind was working faster than he could process but eventually Bora's face resurfaced in his memory.

The following minutes were a terrible experience for Gajeel. He had immediately regretted ever coming to see her and was looking for a way out of this conversation, but for some reason, he didn't think of just getting up and leaving, even though that was his go-to escape plan for every uncomfortable situation.

He made a few attempts at picking a fight with her again, but Juvia was unresponsive and that made him more annoyed, but not angrier. In fact, he was calming down because it was already obvious that she didn't have the strength to fight back, and it's no fun to just beat at someone who's not resisting.

Juvia agreed with every mean comment he threw at her and already let it slip that she was rejected once again because of the rain. Gajeel was still hoping to land a few punches before dinner, and when he implied that Bora could be on the receiving end of those, just for practice sake, Juvia told him that it'd be best if he didn't approach Bora.

 _"I wasn't exactly asking for your permission."_

 _"Juvia wasn't exactly forbidding anything,"_ \- she replied not paying too much attention to the conversation.

Gajeel liked to talk a lot, but Juvia had already figured out that if it were a knuckle-exercise that he was looking for, he wouldn't go as far as to look for someone like Bora.

 _"Tch, you can't really blame the guy, the weather never changes,"_ \- he said shaking the water off his hand.

 _"And yet it always seems to fit"_ – she sighed almost defeated and turned a sad gaze towards the sky.

Gajeel was drenched and so was Juvia, but both remained in their seats.

 _"You know you're better off without him, right_?"- he said quietly after a few minutes of silence.

 _"He's doing it again,"-_ she thought to herself.

Her face was too expressionless to show, but if this lifeless doll could then she'd probably let a slightly mocking smile take place on her lips.

"Careful,"- she dragged a bit, - "Juvia might start thinking Gajeel-san cares," – she said turning to look over her shoulder.

She couldn't see his face but could tell his eyes flew open after hearing that. And as always, after little comments like these, he scoffed and slowly turned to meet her eyes.

 _"As if."_

She didn't show it, but Gajeel had a feeling somewhere on the inside that made her smile.

 _"Hmm… maybe I could still beat her up a bit later"._

 **AN:** Just a short little something that was prompted by an ask on tumblr ^/^ They're not very close yet in this scenario, so Juvia still addresses him with "-san". Gajuvia Brotp foreveeeeeeer.


End file.
